Miracle, Magic and Early Christianity

Abstract

The article describes the continuity between pagan and Christian views on miracle and magic and examines the dialogue about miracles that unfolded between them in the 2nd – 3rd centuries. The author explores such issues as the ancient Greek or Roman and Jewish traditions concerning sorcerers, the terms for describing miracle workers and sorcerers, evidence from early Christian literature of miracles in the Apostolic period and later, the role of miracles in the spreading of Christianity, and the controversy between Christians and pagans, especially Origen and Celsus, about the nature of the miracles performed by Christ and his followers. Special attention is paid to miracles in hagiographic works. They can be found in a number of texts, and their character — omens of imminent death, visions, the gift of the ability to endure torture — is “non-public”, which distinguishes them from what can be seen in the ancient writings or in apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. We believe that the appeal to miracles is more typical of texts addressed to an external pagan audience rather than to a Christian one.